Tustin Base Process Is Good News

These are the final months for the Tustin Marine Corps Air Facility, scheduled to have its last helicopter fly out later this month and its flag lowered next June. For decades, it has been a good neighbor to surrounding Orange County communities, which in recent years have sprouted bustling housing tracts and malls. Already, most of the Marines have been reassigned to the Miramar Naval Air Station in San Diego.

The future of this base is far less controversial than that of its larger nearby neighbor, the El Toro Marine Corps Air Station. Tustin’s two giant hangars, which are landmarks of the county, are under review for their historical significance, and one of them at least seems likely to be preserved. As it stands, Orange County is to get the north hangar, and would like to preserve it in some way that serves as a regional park. The city has plans to raze the south hangar to make way for a road that would serve commercial buildings. But plans are flexible; the hangar would be preserved if businesses could be attracted to it.

Tustin has been working without fanfare for several years on its redevelopment plan. Earlier this year, the city agreed to spend up to $130,000 for a plan to market the property to developers. There are plans to convert the property to a mixed-use development of residential homes, commercial businesses, a school and parks.

The plan has been developed under the supervision of city staff. The El Toro situation, with competing interest groups and local and county government entities in collision, is far more complicated.

Tustin has had its wrinkles: Several years ago, the city was successful in getting the Coast Guard to abandon plans to convert part of the base into housing for its Los Angeles Harbor personnel, a plan that posed an obstacle to a more far-reaching reuse plan. Land that would have been lost amounted to 55 acres, and an estimated $600,000 less in property taxes would have been collected.

With all the attention to the conflict over plans for an airport at El Toro, a base reuse process at Tustin that has proceeded more evenly has escaped much regional notice. But the orderly advance of plans stands as an important sign of progress in Orange County.